Canadian Solar joins 600W+ club with Series 7 HiKu modules

Canadian Solar has joined the 600W-plus panel club this week with the launch of its Series 7 high-power, high-efficiency modules, with a power output of up to 665W, efficiencies of up to 21.4%, and promising a nearly 10% reduction on levelised cost of energy.

The PV giant unveiled its new monofacial HiKu7 and bifacial BiHiKu7 modules on Tuesday, ahead of a formal product launch webinar to be held on October 29 (for which you can register here.)

The company said in a statement that the new generation of modules would reduce cost of installation by using leading tracker and inverter designs: “more modules per string, more watts per tracker and pile, lower equipment and labor costs, and higher project returns.”

These, combined with Canadian Solar’s proprietary cell technology and module design – hetero-type ribbon and paving technology – were expected to push down balance of system costs by up to 5.7% and LCOE by up to 8.9%, relative to mainstream 445W modules, the company said.

The Series 7 modules are also said to have further reduced the incidence of light- and elevated temperature-induced degradation using Canadian Solar Advanced Regeneration (CSAR) technology.

“I am excited to introduce our 600+ W modules today, which marks another milestone for Canadian Solar as the leader in solar PV cell and module technologies,” said chairman and CEO Dr Shawn Qu.

“As always, the design of our new Series 7 modules puts our customer needs at heart. Our focus is not only to increase power wattage but more importantly, to reduce LCOE, improve product reliability and increase energy yield.

These product and technological innovations will continue to boost solar project returns, further improve solar energy’s competitiveness and accelerate the global clean energy transition,” Qu said.

The launch of the company’s 600W+ range, just four months after the launch of its 500W+ modules, brings the North American company up to speed with some of its key Chinese rivals, including Trina and JinkoSolar.

The 2020 race to unveil ever more powerful PV modules has been something to watch, leaving the 500W+ module club in its dust only months after it was joined by members from almost all of the solar majors, including Longi Solar, Canadian Solar, Risen Energy, JA Solar, and JinkoSolar.

Trina Solar unveiled its own 600W Vertex module series in July at an industrial chain summit of the 600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance in China – a collection of 39 firms that has pledged to work together to fast-track next-generation PV technology, starting with 600W+ ultra-high power modules.

“PV is becoming one of the strongest driving forces for energy transformation,” a statement on behalf of the Alliance said at the time.

“To bring more value to customers and promote sustainable development of the PV industry, open innovation is critical.”